IBLER NAMED SWIMMER OF THE WEEK FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WEEK; GRIMES EARNS ROOKIE HONORS

Nov. 12: St. Lawrence sprinter Robo Ibler was named Liberty League Co-Swimmer of the Week after another impressive weekend in the water for the Saints, while first year Hannah Grimes earned Liberty League Rookie of the Week honors for her outstanding contributions to the women’s team, who split the weekend with RIT and the University of Rochester.

This is the third consecutive week Ibler (left) has been honored by the conference. The Independence, MN sophomore continued to dominate in the sprint races for the Saints, winning the 50 and 100 free against both RIT and Liberty League opponent University of Rochester. On Saturday, Ibler touched first in the 50 with a 22.15, and in the 100, with a 49.79. He repeated his victories on Sunday, touching with a 22.41 in the 50 and a 49.69 in the 100. His two wins on Sunday were the only first place points the Saints earned against Rochester, and his win in the 50 on Sunday was his fifth consecutive win in the event to keep him undefeated.

Grimes (right), who was named Rookie of the Week after the first weekend of competition, continued to be a big impact for the Saints, taking three first place finishes in the dual meets with RIT and Rochester. Grimes came from behind in the 200 IM against RIT to win the race by more than four seconds with a time of 2:22.12. The Hamden, CT native took first in the 200 IM against the Tigers (2:34.88), and in the 100 breaststroke against Rochester (1:11.04). She was also a member of the 200 medley relay team that won the event in both meets.

Ibler, Grimes and the rest of the Saints will travel to Syracuse, NY on Saturday, November 17th to race NCAA Division II competitor LeMoyne College. The meet is set to begin at 1:00pm.

YELLOWJACKETS SWEEP SAINTS

Nov. 11: The University of Rochester took two wins from the St. Lawrence men’s and women’s swim teams as the Yellowjackets defeated both squads in the Liberty League match up held in the Frank and Lee Augsbury Natatorium Sunday afternoon.

The women, who are now 3-2 in the season, were led by first-year Hannah Grimes, sophomore Abbey Lynch, junior Ashley Bogosian and senior captain Kim Watcke, who won the first race of the meet for the Saints in the 200-yard medley relay, winning the race with a 1:54.58, more than six seconds ahead of the Yellowjackets’ A Relay. The Saints’ ‘B’ relay, which included sophomore Emily Baron, and first years Cassie Dudar, Alden Bush, and Katy Kozminski, finished third.

Bogosian continued to dominate for the Saints in the 50-yard freestyle, recording her fifth consecutive win of the season in the event, finishing with a 25.89. First years Megan Derby and Kozminski fought for second place points with Yellowjacket Dayna Jacob, who got her hand to the wall just ahead of Derby, clocking in at 26.37, while Derby was only a tenth of a second behind, finishing at 26.37. Kozminski took fourth with a 26.50.

Lynch stepped up to the blocks in the 100-yard butterfly and the race for first came down to the Norwood, NY native and Derby, with Lynch taking an early lead and maintaining it in order to capture first place points with a time of 1:02.13. Derby came in a close second at 1:03.50, nearly two seconds ahead of the remainder of the field.

Watcke led the team in the 100-yard freestyle, taking first with a time of 56.71, more than a second ahead of Rochester’s Jacob, who battled with Kozminski for second place. Jacob finished with a 57.74, while Kozminski touched the pads right behind her at 58.00.

Grimes took first place points in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing with a 1:11.04, a second ahead of Yellowjacket Kelly Fischer, who touched at 1:12.23.

Lynch, Watcke, Derby were joined by junior Meaghan Vaughn in the final event of the day, the 200-yard free relay, where the Saints led the Yellowjackets throughout the entire race and touched just ahead of them with a time of 1:44.24, while Rochester finished at 1:44.46. The Saints ‘B’ relay, consisting of Grimes, Bush, sophomore Kate Waters, and senior Katie Alexander, took third in the event.

For the men, now 3-2 overall, sophomore Robo Ibler earned two first place finishes in his individual races, the 50 and 100-yard freestyles. Like Bogosian, the Independence, MN has yet to lose in the 50 this season, winning the event with a 22.41, more than half a second ahead of Rochester’s Kevin Balch. In the 100, Ibler took it out hard and was able to keep a slight lead over Yellowjacket Bobby McCue, winning with a time of 49.69, four-tenths ahead of McCue.

Sophomore Stephen Dally had a close race in the 100-yard breaststroke, coming in second just behind Yellowjacket Chris Jensen with a time of 1:05.74. Sophomore Matt Kirkpatrick took two third place finishes, one in the 400-yard IM (4:36.35) and in the 100-yard butterfly (58.79). Junior captain Matt Feldman also had a third place finish in the 100-yard backstroke, clocking in at 59.66.

The Saints’ A 200-yard medley relay, which included Ibler, Dally, Feldman and junior Mike Trumbower, placed second in the race with a time of 1:45.40.

The Saints will travel to Syracuse, NY on November 17 th for a dual meet with LeMoyne College. The meet is set to begin at 1:00pm.

GRIMES LEADS WOMEN TO VICTORY,

MEN FALL IN MEET AGAINST RIT

Nov. 10: First-year Hannah Grimes had two individual first place finishes, leading the St. Lawrence women’s swim team to a win over RIT, 130-90, in the Frank and Lee Augsbury Natatorium on Saturday afternoon. The men fell to the Tigers, 70-167.

The breaststroker from Hamden, CT swam in the outside lane of the 200-yard IM race came from behind after the fly leg to take a surprising slight lead in the backstroke over the rest of the field. Grimes’ breaststroke leg sealed the deal for the win, as she finished the leg more than a body length ahead and was able to maintain the lead in the last 50, touching at 2:22.12. First-year Cassie Dudar came in second with a 2:26.88, a second and a half ahead of RIT’s Claire Eckstrom.

Grimes’ second win came in her specialty stroke, the 200-yard breaststroke, where her lead grew with every lap of the eight-length race, finishing in a time of 2:34.88. Junior Devan Meserve competed for second place with Tigers’ Coleen Davis and was able to touch her out, finishing with a 2:49.00.

In addition to her individual victories, Grimes also swam the breaststroke leg of the Saints’ winning 200-yard medley relay, which also included senior captain Kim Watcke, sophomore Abbey Lynch, and junior Ashley Bogosian. The relay clocked in at 1:54.22, while St. Lawrence’s ‘B’ relay, which included sophomore Emily Baron, junior Meaghan Vaughn, and first-years Alden Bush and Katy Kozminski, finished second with a 2:03.78.

Watcke took a win in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing with a 2:17.00, while Dudar swam to her second 2 nd place finish of the day after another battle between herself and RIT’s Eckstrom. The Cheshire, CT backstroker also was a member of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay, which included Lynch, Kozminski, and first-year Megan Derby. The relay won by three-quarters of a body length, touching at 1:43.54.

Lynch also had an impressive day for the Saints. In addition to her two relay wins, the Norwood, NY native led the Saints to a 1-2-3 finish in the 100-yard freestyle, winning the race in a 56.03. Only five-hundredths of a second separated second and third place, with Bogosian coming in just ahead of Derby with a time of 57.11. Derby touched at 57.16 to secure the Saints’ sweep.

Bogosian continued her winning streak in the 50-yard freestyle, coming in at 25.83. Kozminski finished the race with a 26.40 to place third just behind RIT’s Kristen Curtze, who touched with a time of 26.26.

On the men’s side, sophomore Robo Ibler won two of the closest races of the day for the Saints. The sprinter from Independence, MN beat RIT’s Jeff Kaemmerlen by only 14-hundredths of a second, winning with a time of 22.15, his best time thus far in the season. Kaemmerlen touched at 22.29.

Ibler’s 100-yard freestyle race was even closer, as he and Tiger John Hessler swam stroke-for-stroke for the last 25 yards of the race, with Ibler taking first place points with a time of 49.79 while Hessler finished only eight-hundredths of a second behind at 49.87.

Ibler was also a member of the second-place Saints’ 200-yard freestyle relay team, which included senior Steve Walano, junior Mike Trumbower, and first-year Mike McPhillips, who finished the race with a 1:33.85.

The only other Saint win of the day came from sophomore Matt Kirkpatrick, who had a dominating swim in the 1000-yard freestyle, defeating the rest of the field by nearly an entire length of the pool, clocking in at 10:47.71. RIT’s Eric Stevens placed second with a time of 10:59.74.

In diving, two St. Lawrence pool records fell to RIT senior Quinn Donahue, who broke both the 1-meter and the 3-meter records. Donahue scored 300.00 points in the 1-meter, breaking the previous record of 288.00 set back in 1987. In the 3-meter, he broke a 22-year old record with a score of 319.27, beating the previous 307.35 mark set back in 1985.

The Saints, who are both 3-1 overall in the season, will host a dual meet against the Yellowjackets from the University of Rochester on Sunday. The first race between the two Liberty League teams is set to begin at 12:00pm.